The present invention relates to methods of manufacturing cut glass panels, and particularly stained glass windows.
The various cut glass pieces or "panes" of a stained glass window are traditionally joined by lead cames. By "came" is meant a slender metal rod that is I-shaped in cross section. Lead or lead alloy is extruded through a die to make came stock. The came stock is cut into sections of appropriate length and installed by hand as the window is constructed. A section of came is fused or puttied between the edges of adjacent glass panes, with the cut edges of the juxtaposed glass panes abutting against the sides of the central web of the I-beam-shaped came. The came segments are soldered together where their ends intersect. This time-consuming traditional construction method produces a beautiful and individual stained glass window. However, such windows do not have great strength, and so external cross bracings must routinely be added to the cut glass panel. Moreover, a problem with this traditional construction is that the fused or puttied joints between the cames and the glass panes are not impervious to the passage of air and moisture.
A problem unsolved by the prior art was how to make a leaded stained glass window large and strong enough to be used without cross bracings in the window and door casings of modern dwellings. The maximum size of the cut glass panels of the prior art was limited by the components and manufacturing techniques employed. Cross braces of lead-antimony alloy, steel, or other metals had to be incorporated in order to produce large windows that could withstand pressure shocks caused by wind or the slamming of doors. Such braces are aesthetically undesirable because they must be superimposed upon the pattern of the translucent glass panes.
Another unsolved problem was how to make a stained glass window that was completely sealed-impervious to the passage of air and water through the plurality of welded, cemented, or puttied joints between the cames and the glass-such that it could be used as one pane of a dual-glazed insulated glass window. The leaded stained glass windows of the prior art have joints that are not completely sealed, or their seals are subject to failure as the panel contracts and expands as the weather changes, and so they cannot be successfully used in dual-glazed insulated windows. Instead, the leaded stained glass windows of the prior art must be installed as the middle pane in triple-glazed insulated windows by sandwiching the cut glass panel between two clear glass panes. Such triple-glazed insulated windows have disadvantages: They are generally too thick for standard construction moldings, and they are aesthetically undesirable because the stained glass panel is isolated from tactile prehension and is covered by a reflective surface that can become distractingly soiled.
Furthermore, the stained glass windows of the prior art required time consuming and laborious manufacturing processes.